Didn‚Äôt pay landing fees, fuel fees, hangers fees... an old poster about 5yrs ago said it best.. A Dominican airline will never make it in DR they don‚Äôt like paying there landing airport fuel fees (Colon)

Reason I am perplex about it is because they have sounded routes and customers. Where did the money go?

You are right, maintenance for those aircrafts is very dificult because most airlines are retiring those models, like AA and also Delta started to retired the models MD from their fleet, but in the case of PAWA the main problem is very bad administration and the money they was collecting gone to who knows pockets, they wasnt paying the suppliers and services and not returning tax collected to the goverment. They already had sales for the next 6 months of 17,000 seat.

Lets see what will happend with them.

Insel air wont be flying with the MD's anymore. They are to expensive to operate, Maintenance and staff are too expensive. They will scrap them (Apparently nobody is interested in buying them).

The money went to the pocket of Simeon Garcia, the venezuelan owner, he took in advance the earnings and fu.....d up everything.

I see, no wonder why Dominicans and Venezuelans are getting alone so well among people with influence and power. Just pay attention to all the set ups, mettings and dialogues taken place and backed up by Dominican Politicians and government itself.

While having breakfast this morning, I came across this article on one of my news feeds. It was published yesterday. It is much easier to just click on the link, and read for yourself, but I realize some members do not like following unknown links, while others would like to know the source of the respective information provided. So I provided the link, as well as the complete text of the article. The article seems lengthy, but is quite informative, along with a very grim, but realistic final note by it's editors.https://airwaysmag.com/airlines/behi...wa-dominicana/

MIAMI ‚ÄĒ Three carriers, one fate. Venezuelan SBA Airlines (S3) and Aserca Airlines (R7), together with sister carrier from the Dominican Republic, PAWA Dominicana (7Q), have all gone belly up in the span of a few weeks.
The three carriers, owned by the same conglomerate, Grupo Condor, have either been revoked of their flying permits, their assets have been seized by the governments in which they operate, or simply have run out of cash to pay for insurance.
READ MORE: Venezuela‚Äôs Aeropostal Ceases Operations
The Grupo Condor, presided‚ÄĒand owned‚ÄĒby Venezuelan entrepreneur Simeon Garcia, has been a crucial long-time player in the country‚Äôs commercial aviation scene, owning SBA, Aserca, and a tourist-focused, small regional carrier called LTA Aerotuy.

SBA Airlines‚ÄĒthe country‚Äôs leading carrier since the demise of VIASA and AVENSA‚ÄĒoperated a large number of regional, narrow-body, and wide-body planes to a vast amount of destinations, including Madrid, Tenerife, Miami, and Panama.
At one point, SBA had a relatively strong fleet of three Boeing 767-300ERs and four 757-200s, with which the airline flew overseas to Europe and Miami several times per day.
However, as the economic health of the radical South American country faded, so did both SBA and Aserca Airlines. ‚ÄúBut not for the same reasons,‚ÄĚ tells Airways an Aserca Pilot who desires to remain anonymous due to the risk of being reprimanded by Venezuelan authorities.

‚ÄúEven though Venezuela‚Äôs communist regime brought down the country‚Äôs economy to its knees, both Aserca and SBA were mismanaged. The owners never cared to keep us happy. They owe us a lot of money. They purchased wrong parts for their airplanes, grounding them indefinitely. They left thousands of passengers stranded (‚Ä¶), and now they fled the country hiding from their responsibilities,‚ÄĚ he revealed.

However, in reality, the airline had run out of funds to pay for the insurance of its last McDonnell-Douglas MD-83 (YV2971), as published by INAC, contradicting the airline‚Äôs public statement.
INAC ‚Äď February 16, 2018: Effective immediately, all operations by Aserca Airlines shall remain suspended because the airline has failed to pay for its aircraft insurance. The airline must assist its passengers according to the country‚Äôs air transport regulations.
‚ÄúFourteen Captains and ten First Officers were on duty for just one plane,‚ÄĚ tells an Aserca Airlines pilot to Airways. ‚ÄúIt is outrageous.‚ÄĚ
Reportedly, all pilots sat at home waiting for a call to operate a 30-minute flight. Today, however, this wait has ended with the terrible news that the airline cannot operate flights any longer.

The airline has 10 McDonnell-Douglas MD-80s, with an average age of 29 years. The latest one to remain in operation was originally delivered in 1997 to Alaska Airlines. Today, all these planes are grounded at Caracas ‚Äď Maiquetia International Airport (CCS).

The PAWA Scam

As desperate Aserca pilots tried to fulfill their contracts, other ‚Äúmore fortunate‚ÄĚ pilots had been assigned to the group‚Äôs carrier in the Dominican Republic, PAWA Dominicana.
A former Aserca MD-80 Pilot was granted the opportunity to fly for the Dominican carrier through his contract with Aserca Airlines.

‚ÄúWe never had a formal relationship with PAWA,‚ÄĚ he tells Airways. ‚ÄúOur contracts were with Aserca, and we were given a daily stipend of about $130 to fly the PAWA jets.‚ÄĚ
Such stipend, for a Venezuelan Pilot, is remarkable. With a recorded inflation rate of 2616% in 2017, earning money in foreign currency is a privilege. Venezuela‚Äôs economy has been listed as the only one with hyper inflation rates in the globe.
According to him, PAWA‚Äôs pilots were purposely picked from Aserca because of specific qualifications. ‚ÄúMy English was good enough, and I had a good amount of hours as Captain on the MD-80,‚ÄĚ he explained.
‚ÄúBut we had nothing to do with the airline‚Äôs management,‚ÄĚ he said.
According to the Captain, PAWA was in ‚Äúgreat shape‚ÄĚ when he first started flying their planes. ‚ÄúThey had six MD-80s operating at full swing. They had high load factors, and we flew regularly. However, six months later, they only had two planes. And today, they have none,‚ÄĚ he said.
The decline in the airline‚Äôs operations was evident. Several planes were grounded because of missing parts, and even though load factors remained high, the financial difficulties crippled the airline rigorously.

‚ÄúPAWA is a scam,‚ÄĚ said a Venezuelan travel agent who also wishes to remain anonymous. ‚ÄúThey sold us a travel package for four passengers. When their flights were ultimately canceled, the airline didn‚Äôt assist our clients or even gave them a refund. They had to find their way back home on their own,‚ÄĚ she said.
In the Dominican Republic, PAWA Dominicana‚Äôs assets were seized by the country‚Äôs authorities, and the airline‚Äôs President, Gary Stone, was taken into custody as he tried to flee to Miami on the first week of February.
READ MORE: Venezuela‚Äôs Dispute With Aruba, Cura√ßao Forces Avior Airlines to Drop Flights
‚ÄúPAWA has been suspended for three months due to the lack of payments to the Dominican government, private institutions, and airport handling companies,‚ÄĚ published the Dominican newspaper Expreso.
‚ÄúPAWA owes more than $7 million to Aerodom, the country‚Äôs main airport handler.‚ÄĚ
PAWA Dominicana ‚ÄĒ January 28: ‚ÄúWe invite our passengers not to show up at the PAWA Dominicana counters at all airports, as they are kept closed. We continue working together with these authorities seeking a solution to this situation and we regret the inconvenience that this causes to thousands of passengers.‚ÄĚ
Pilots, flight attendants, staff members of all three carriers were, therefore, left without a job. ‚ÄúThere was no compensation. We just don‚Äôt know what‚Äôs going to happen to us,‚ÄĚ one Aserca Pilot said.

SBA Airlines ‚Äď AOC Revoked

In Venezuela, the National Institute of Civil Aviation (INAC) revoked the Air Services Operator Certificate (AOC) of the ill-fated SBA Airlines (SBA) last month.
The sanction has been imposed for at least 90 days because the airline continuously breached its schedules and services, therefore grounding all its aircraft because of a severe lack of funds.
According to INAC, to keep the AOC, the airline must demonstrate ‚Äúthe adequate accomplishment of the technical and legal procedures, which may determine or not the reboot of operations.‚ÄĚ

To continue serving their passengers on the coveted Caracas ‚Äď Miami route, SBA Airlines had to wet-lease several Aruba Airlines Airbus A320s.
However, after running out of funds, the airline had to pull the plug and announce the cancellation of all their flights in late November‚ÄĒone month ahead of the busiest time of the year.
The airline announced that it would not be able to operate all its flights from Caracas to Miami until January 15, 2018, citing operative issues with its fleet. The airline also said that all tickets were not to be rescheduled, but refunded.
However, the airline never resumed operations and the aviation authorities revoked its AOC in January.
INAC reaffirmed through a release their intention to supervise the fulfillment of the aviation duties SBA Airlines has with its passengers and cargo, as well as the protection of the airline‚Äôs workers and passengers affected by the circumstances.

‚ÄúThe main problem with the airline has been its terrible management,‚ÄĚ says an SBA Boeing 767 First Officer. ‚ÄúBecause of them, all of us, pilots and workers, have been treated with insolence and haven‚Äôt been paid in a very long time.‚ÄĚ
SBA pilots were usually granted US$1,200 and First Officers $780 as a monthly bonus to cope with the rising inflation that has crippled the Venezuelan economy since 2014.
‚ÄúThey haven‚Äôt paid us in over eight months,‚ÄĚ said another Boeing 767 Captain who is now moving to Hong Kong to search for new job opportunities.
‚ÄúBecause of the terrible management and corrupt environment in which these two airlines operate, I‚Äôm now forced to move to Asia to look for better flying opportunities,‚ÄĚ he said.

And corruption seems to have stirred the airline‚Äôs management for a long time. ‚ÄúJust like the country, corruption is the modus operandi at these airlines,‚ÄĚ the 767 Captain says. ‚ÄúNot only they didn‚Äôt pay our bonuses, but they also purchased several planes by using preferential government [USD] exchange rates, which are only available to those who support the regime.‚ÄĚ
‚ÄúThe airline‚Äôs chief pilot had been given a large ‚Äėincentive‚Äô to keep all other pilots quieted‚ÄĚ until SBA Airlines figured out how ‚Äúto get out of the [economic] hole.‚ÄĚ
And from the operational perspective, SBA‚Äôs management even ‚Äúpurchased the wrong engine‚ÄĚ of a Boeing 757-200 which needed replacement.
‚ÄúOne of their 757s had been grounded because of engine malfunctions. A new, overhauled engine had to be bought (‚Ä¶) and the airline‚Äôs management purchased the wrong one,‚ÄĚ the Pilot said.
An overhauled 757 engine can cost up to $5 million.

No Future In Sight

Today, these three airlines are practically bust, while all its pilots are looking for jobs elsewhere.
According to three SBA pilots, there have been numerous attempts from staff to steal airplane parts, computers, and office assets at the airline‚Äôs headquarters in Caracas to counteract the debt the airline holds against them.
In the meantime, Venezuela‚Äôs current aviation outlook remains as dark as the country‚Äôs political state, which has been highlighted as a dictatorship by numerous governments in the region, including the United States.
The only airlines that remain active with partial operations are Conviasa, Laser, Avior, Turpial, Venezolana, and Rutaca‚ÄĒjust a fraction of what once used to be a busy airpark with a myriad of domestic and international carriers fighting for slots at the country‚Äôs principal airport.

As all Aserca, SBA, and PAWA pilots, crewmembers, and ground staff are left adrift, the whereabouts of Simeon Garcia remains unclear. Not a single statement has been released from the Group‚Äôs CEO and both SBA and Aserca continue to reassure that their operations are ‚Äútemporarily suspended,‚ÄĚ when, in fact, the airlines are practically out of business.
All that‚Äôs left is the cemetery of Aserca, SBA, and LTA Aerotuy planes grounded in Caracas, Miami, and Mexico City, together with the memories of what once was Venezuela‚Äôs largest airline.

*Note: Airways chose to keep the identity of the interviewees as anonymous to keep them safe from the Venezuelan totalitarian regime.

Such a shame. ¬†I contracted for SBA as a flight engineer ¬†It was great fun. ¬†Once you were actually on board and in the air, the service was first rate. ¬†The food was excellent, served to you by a plethora of smiling Venezuelan super models!